Cactus Bowl 2017: UCLA Football offense vs. Kansas State defense
Kansas State Defense
Naturally we are going to start up front with the defensive line. The Wildcats employ a four man front and keep to it. While four man fronts can give your defensive ends more favorable pass rushing situations since they typically see more one on one opportunities, the Wildcat’s aren’t much of a pass rushing threat. They just don’t have an elite edge rusher on the team. Sophomore DE Reggie Walker flashes the most consistent athleticism but has only found the QB in the backfield twice this year. Given how pass happy is the Big-12 is you’d think the edge rushers would have more production.
Right now the the defensive line as a group is accounting for 63% of the team’s sack production which is good but not great. In a 4-3 defense you’d expect that your defensive ends are winning more of their battles. However it isn’t the edge pressure the UCLA Football offensive line really needs to worry about. It all starts from the inside.
Senior defensive tackle Will Geary isn’t your prototypical DT (six-feet, 306 pounds) but what he lacks in pure stature he makes up for with the ability to penetrate into the backfield. Geary splits double teams, knifes into the backfield routinely or uses his hands to chop down those of offensive linemen and get to the QB which he’s done four and half times this year. He isn’t quite on the same level as another undersized DT in Aaron Donald but there are plenty of similarities in their game. However Geary does struggle to anchor and hold the point of attack especially against double teams.
Tanner Wood is a solid base end but offers little in the way of a pass rush and lacks enough sand in the pants and it shows when he occasionally is engulfed by offensive tackles. Bronson Massie is a long, lean, athletic and speedy DE but the red-shirt freshman relies on his speed too often. Like UCLA Football DE/LB Keisean Lucier-South in his earlier career, Massie has yet to develop much of a counter move to compliment his speed.
The Wildcats do have some beef up front in the form of Trey Dishon but they can be moved off the line of scrimmage by offensive lines, choosing to use speed and technique instead of bulk to stop run games. They’ll run some stunts up front to try help and create pressure. Najee Toran, Scott Quessenberry and Michael Alves will have to communicate effectively as they pass rushers off. When KSU played Texas, up and down sophomore OT Denzel Okafor had a good day outside of a couple plays. I think Kolton Miller is more sound at this point but he still has shown lapses. This entire group will need to play well if they want to keep Rosen upright and dealing.